Machine Learning
Q: What mathematical function measures the distance between predicted and actual values in regression tasks?
A: The loss function (commonly Mean Squared Error).
Q: What is the Born–Oppenheimer approximation used for?
A: It separates nuclear and electronic motion to simplify molecular quantum mechanical calculations.
Q: What organelle is primarily responsible for ATP production in eukaryotic cells?
A: The mitochondrion.
Q: Which ion’s influx primarily triggers synaptic vesicle fusion and neurotransmitter release?
A: Calcium (Ca²⁺).
Q: What is the in-game currency used in Runescape?
A: Gold pieces (GP).
Q: In stochastic gradient descent, what is the role of the learning rate?
A: It determines the step size for each parameter update toward minimizing the loss.
Q: Which method improves upon Hartree–Fock by including electron correlation through perturbation theory?
A: Møller–Plesset perturbation theory (MP2).
Q: During the cell cycle, what major checkpoint ensures DNA is correctly replicated before mitosis?
A: The G2/M checkpoint.
Q: What structure connects the two cerebral hemispheres?
A: The corpus callosum.
Q: What skill allows players to create potions using herbs and secondary ingredients?
A: Herblore.
Q: What is the “curse of dimensionality” and how does it affect nearest-neighbor algorithms?
A: It refers to the exponential increase in data sparsity as dimensionality grows, which degrades distance-based algorithm performance.
Q: What distinguishes Density Functional Theory (DFT) from wavefunction-based methods?
A: DFT uses electron density as the fundamental variable instead of the many-body wavefunction.
Q: What is the function of the Golgi apparatus in protein trafficking?
A: It modifies, sorts, and packages proteins for secretion or delivery to other organelles.
Q: What is the main difference between excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials?
A: EPSPs depolarize the membrane, increasing firing likelihood; IPSPs hyperpolarize it, reducing firing likelihood.
Q: In Runescape’s lore, who is known as the god of chaos?
A: Zamorak.
Q: Explain the difference between L1 and L2 regularization in terms of their effect on model coefficients.
A: L1 promotes sparsity by driving some coefficients to zero; L2 penalizes large weights but doesn’t force exact zeros.
Q: Why is the basis set choice critical in ab initio calculations?
A: It defines how molecular orbitals are expressed; too small a basis leads to poor accuracy, too large increases computational cost.
Q: How does the endoplasmic reticulum stress response influence apoptosis?
A: Prolonged ER stress triggers the unfolded protein response, which can activate apoptotic pathways via CHOP and caspases.
Q: Define long-term potentiation (LTP) and its significance.
A: LTP is a sustained increase in synaptic strength after high-frequency stimulation, a basis for learning and memory.
Q: What was unique about the “Partyhat” items from the 2001 Christmas event?
A: They were holiday drops that became discontinued, making them some of the rarest and most valuable items in the game.
Q: What is the main advantage of a variational autoencoder (VAE) over a standard autoencoder?
A: A VAE learns a probabilistic latent space that enables generative sampling and smoother interpolation between data points.
Q: What is the purpose of the exchange-correlation functional in DFT, and why is it a limitation?
A: It accounts for electron exchange and correlation effects; its form is only approximated, limiting DFT’s accuracy.
Q: Describe how telomerase contributes to cellular immortality.
A: Telomerase extends telomeres, preventing chromosomal shortening and senescence, often reactivated in cancer cells.
Q: What role do astrocytes play in neurotransmission beyond structural support?
A: They regulate extracellular ion balance, recycle neurotransmitters, and modulate synaptic signaling through gliotransmission.
Q: What is the name of the 2007-era Runescape version re-released due to player demand?
A: Old School RuneScape (OSRS).